Wagon-brake lever



(110180881.) W A- WESTBROOK.

WAGON BRAKE LEVER.

110. 878,128 Patented Feb. 21, 1888.

7161512655125. Im) 811850?? gW/if 1 M78 MM? l traveling pinion I, that turns on n cross-pivot,

UNITED STATES WALTER A. W'ESTBROGK,

OF KINGMAN, KANSAS.

WAGON-'BRAKE LEVER.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,123, dated February 21, 1888.

Application filed October 8, 1287.

To @ZZ wiwi/t L'o' may concern:

Beitknowu tliatI,\VAL'rER A.WEsTnnoon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kingman, in the county of Kingman and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TWagonBrakes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invent-ion, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and iigures oi' reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

The special object of the invention is to remove certain objections which exist against the wagon-brake lever described in Patent No. 232,363 and analogous brake-levers.

My improvements will first he described in connection with the drawings, and then pointed out in the claims.

Figure l ofthe drawings is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section on the dotted line of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 a trans verse vertical section on the dotted line g/z/ of Fig. l.

In the drawings, A represents an internally toothed are har or rack in which works the' C, in the slot d ot' the brake-lever D, and F the grip-lever. A A are braces. All these devices are old and well known.

At right angles to and crossing the slot d is a slot, d, in which works up and down the hook E, whose shank is pivoted at the upper end to the grip-lever F, which turns on a pivot, f, in the slot ci. By grasping with the hand the two levers D F and pressing them together the hook Ill is forced out ofthe pinion I5, and the latter thereby unlocked from the rack, so as to allow the lever to he moved in either direction to apply or remove the brake-shoes from the wheels.

G is the pivoted connection which operates the brakeshoe mechanism.

On the lever D and in front of the lever F, I

Serial No. 251,810. (No model.)

place the plate-spring H, fastened at one end on the upper end of said lever D and passing with its other end loosely through the brake lever slot d2 against the grip-lever shoulderf. By this arrangement ofthe spring H the brakestrain is no longer upon it, but only that of the hand-grip. This renders it much more durable and much less liable to get out of order:

In practice the sinds and cogged stops which are usually employed to lock the pinion B to the rack A are very apt to break oii, while my hook E, which is made of metal, is not, while it also operates more perfectly and more promptly.

I am aware that the rack and pinion have been long used in brake-levers, and that studs or cogs have been employed to lock the pinion; but they are in separates pieces pivoted to the lower end of the grip-lever connectingrod. In practice these pivoted studs or cogs are liable to cramp, so that the brake will not work freely, and also to come oif the end of the connectingrod; hence Iv use as a stop the hook E, made integral with the connectingrod, which entirely overcomes the objections to the separate pivoted studs or cogs.

NVhat I claim as new, and desi re to protect by Letters Patent, is-

l. In brake-levers, the grip-lever conneetingrod provided with an end hook, E, adapted to he used in connection with the pinion, as shown and described.

2. In brake-levers, the combination of the main lever D, having the slot d, the griplevcr F, pivoted in said slot and having shoulder f', and the flatgrip-leverspringH,passing through slot d, as shown and described.

In testimony whereofl I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER A. VESTBROOK.

Witnesses:

J. C. CHAMBEELIN, W. W. WITT. 

